Making the best choice depends on the type of aircraft and, to a large degree, the airflow velocity.įor transonic, where airflow speed may be slightly lower and/or higher than Mach 1 or the speed of sound, supercritical airfoils are used. Practically, however, there are a finite number of common shapes from which to choose where good data is available. In a contingency, this delay in spinning may enable the pilot to maintain control of the plane.Ĭambered airfoils have a virtually unlimited range of possible designs, which is a fantastic tool in the aerodynamic engineer’s toolbox. It is also advantageous to design the airfoil camber such that the tip will go into stall slower than the root. Most often camber is designed for maximizing the lift coefficient, as opposed to minimizing the drag coefficient. Most often the top surface is more convex than the bottom, as this variation tends to create a favorable pressure difference above and below the airfoil that results in greater lift. All airfoils that are not symmetric are cambered, which means that the top and bottom areas are not exactly the same and one surface is more convex than the other. For symmetrical airfoils, there is no camber and the camber line and chord line are the same. What Is a Cambered Airfoil?Īs shown above, there are basically two classifications for airfoils. This parameter is indicative of the amount of lift-induced drag-which is inversely proportional to the aspect ratio-that will be produced by the wing.įor tapered wings, which many cambered airfoils are, the chord is calculated from the equation below.Īs shown above, the chord may be calculated for any point along the wingspan, provided the wingspan and airfoil area are known, which is important for aerodynamic study for aircraft with cambered airfoils.

For rectangular wings, an important parameter is the aspect ratio that gives the span to the chord length. This equation is used for all airfoil shapes except for a basic trapezoid. Fortunately, there is a standard used for aerodynamics that enables the comparison between different wings and/or airfoil types.įor aerodynamics, the mean aerodynamic chord shown above is the standard by which chords are determined.

There is also the tip chord, which is the length of the chord at the wing’s tip, and the root chord, which is the length nearest the plane’s fuselage.įrom the above, it is apparent that a single aircraft may have several chords. The same is true for the rudder, ailerons (typically used in pairs to prevent roll), and wing flaps (that help reduce the distance required for takeoff and landing). Chord is also used to describe the width of a wing, stabilizer, or rotor blade-for helicopters or some unmanned aerial vehicles-in the direction of airflow. The chord length is the distance from where the chord line intersects with the leading edge to the trailing edge of the airfoil.Ī good way to remember the difference between these two chords of an airfoil is that the chord line has no dimensionality, whereas the chord length is a dimension (e.g., ft, m, etc.). The chord line is a straight imaginary line that extends from the leading edge of the airfoil to the trailing edge.

Low camber airfoil